Lian's Peculiar Journey: Starlight Paladins
Chapter 2
A Friend of The Police
"I don't think you understand the severity of our journey, Lian." Sarah spoke as the two walked outside the walls of the city-state of Aico.
"My sister is a very dangerous foe now that she has been taken over by the Abyss!"
Lian groaned as she dismissed some soldiers.
"Will you ever be quiet? You're always making it much harder than it seems." She grabbed her tiara and shuffled it side to side.
"What a pain."
Sarah crossed her arms.
"Are you even ready for the journey ah-" she stopped when a soldier came up to her with a bag.
"Yes. Now carry it." Lian responded and continued walking, "And don't ask any more questions." She said and got on a carriage prepared by her soldiers.
Sarah grumbled as she struggled to carry the materials in her arms.
"No need to thank me…" she muttered and threw the luggage on the back of the carriage.
"My thanks is in the form of you even being allowed to ride in my carriage." Lian called out from inside the vehicle.
"Hurry, before I change my mind."
Sarah sighed and ran to the open door before it closed.
"Hmph!" she grunted as she jumped in, "Wow." She marveled at the lined fabric seating and the metal ornaments found inside.
Lian smirked and placed her legs on the table in the center.
"Now, I want you to tell me everything about these so-called 'Stands'." She said and caused hers to come out and sit next to her.
Sarah nodded and sat straight.
"Stands are a mystical manifestation of a living being's willpower and soul." She explained again, "With it, people gain wonderful and supernatural new abilities, as well as an ally to protect them."
"And why do some people have them and others don't?"
"It takes a high amount of will power or soul to have one… and many people just don't." Sarah responded, "I assume you received yours from the passion you have for your people and fighting in combat. I have heard the tales of your exploits."
"Don't try to flatter me." Lian shook her head, "However, it seems interesting. Are Stands affected by the same things we are?"
"No, only a Stand-"
"Excuse me." Lian spoke and stuck her head out the window, "HEPH! Get a move on!"
The soldier driving the carriage jumped up in shock and whipped the horses.
"Much better." The princess chuckled when she felt the carriage move, "You were saying?"
"Stands are only affected by other Stands." Sarah continued, "They are not affected by any kind of magic or physical attacks. So if a hooligan tries to stab your stand, it will either be caught by your stand or go right through. However, any damage taken by your stand will translate to you."
Lian nodded in understanding and placed her chin on her right hand, "Well… you did say Stands are rare, so I really shouldn't worry about it." She shrugged her shoulders.
"By the way, do you know where we are going?"
"To the Town of Seris." Sarah responded, "That is where my sister is. That is where I fled from and started my journey to look for other Stand users, which led me to you."
"Quite… and where is this… Seris?"
"In the southern edge of the Magistrate." Sarah answered, "So it will take a while to get there."
Lian gave a deep sigh, "And here I thought this would be a quick task." She grabbed her tiara and shuffled it side to side, "What a pain…"
"The wait will be worth it once we defeat her." Sarah pulled out some tarts from the bag, then called Furious Flame to toast it with its flame.
"Do you want one?" she asked the princess.
"No thank you. I need to keep my shape." Lian chuckled.
Sarah rolled her eyes.
"By the way, what have you named your stand?" she asked.
"Named?" Lian looked at her oddly, then looked at her hulking stand.
"Yes, you can name it… I have named mine Furious Flame." Sarah said, "I was just wondering if you had."
"What a silly thought." Lian shook her head, "But a rather cute one at that." She nodded and pondered, "Perhaps…. Rocket Man?"
"Eh…" Sarah murmured disapprovingly.
"Need a Hero?"
"Uh…."
"Don't Stop me Now?"
"It's just not biting me." Sarah confessed.
"Ugh, why am I even asking for the opinion of a commoner?" Lian scoffed and then brushed back her hair, "How about something simple…. Power Khan."
"That sounds… alrig-"
"It's going to be Power Khan." Lian said, "Because I Khan do this with Power." She chuckled.
Sarah looked confused.
"I demand you laugh." Lian growled, "Do it!"
"Hahahahahaha…." Sarah laughed uneasily, "Well, it is a nice name now that I think about it." She nodded and looked at her stand, "Power Khan sounds great for such a strong looking stand."
"I knew you would come around." Lian nodded.
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Sarah woke up when she heard a yell, and then felt the carriage shake when the horses outside whinnied.
"DWAH!" the soldier screamed and a spear came through the carriage walls, nearly hitting Sarah.
"Hah!" the woman screamed and stepped back when the spear started to drip with blood, "Lian!" she yelled at the Princess, who was still sound asleep all spread out on the sofa and snoring.
"Lian! We're being attacked!" she shook her.
"H-Huh?" Lian slowly opened her eyes looked around, "What do you want-" she saw the spear sticking through the carriage.
"Quick!" a voice outside sounded alongside the galloping of horses, "This carriage looks good, let's see what we get from this!"
"What's going on?" Lian asked.
"We're being attacked!" Sarah informed as she grabbed the supply bag, "We need to get out of her-"
A large axe burst through the door and was stuck there for a few seconds.
"I here someone inside!" a gruff voice yelled, "And they sound pretty cute…" it chuckled lowly.
"Use your stand!" Lian told Sarah.
"And risk burning us to ashes?" the woman responded, "This carriage is all wood and we're stuck inside! We'll light up like a torch!"
Lian growled, "Useless." She shook her head and pointed at the back of the carriage.
"Power Khan!" she called out her stand, then made it punch the wall.
Power Khan yelled and blew the back of the carriage apart with two punches.
"What the!?" the thieves outside fell back to avoid the planks and splinters that shot out.
Lian and Sarah jumped out to see a raiding party of 10 thieves and robbers surrounding them and the carriage.
"Well what do we have here?" one of the thieves looked at the two, "Don't you two look… delicious." He licked his lips, "Especially you there with those thick thighs…" he looked at Sarah.
"That white haired one's the best." Another thief, the man with the axe, pointed at Lian, "She looks pretty uppity too."
"Put your hands up, ladies, and you'll be fine." A robber lifted his two revolvers and pointed them at the two women.
Sarah stood close to Lian and tapped her hip.
"Lian… do you see that?" she told the princess and directed her eyes to a small patch of woods a short way away.
"That forest, what about it?" Lian asked.
"If we can make it to those woods, we may lose these chumps." Sarah responded, "And I can do just that… Furious Flame."
Her stand came out and looked at her.
"Heat Wave."
Furious Flame brought in its wings and curled its knees up to its chest, then stretched out and heated the air around it,
"What in the world…" one of the thieves grumbled as the air started to become heavy and hazy.
"What's going on?" the one with the axe added as his eyes started to dry up.
"Now's our chance!" Sarah said as the thieves were blinded by the heat and grabbed Lian.
Lian nodded and called out Power Khan, who punched away one of the thieves to make a clearing.
Sarah recalled Furious Flame once they reached a reasonable distance from the woods, causing the hot air effect to leave the area.
"What- Hey!" one of the thieves yelled, "They're running off to the woods!" he pointed, and the posse followed suit.
However, there was one straggler coming in, and coming in hot.
Inside the woods, Lian and Sarah scrambled to lose the thieves who had now dismounted in order to chase them more effectively in the thick woods.
"Ah!" Princess Lian ducked when a bullet whizzed past her head.
"Watch out!" Sarah pulled Lian to her so she could avoid a crossbow bolt, "Agh! I can't use my stand in here!" she growled as she noticed the dense vegetation around them.
"One whiff and this would all go ablaze!"
Lian and Sarah stopped when they saw their path was blocked off by a pile of rotting logs.
"Step back." Lian said and called Power Khan, then used it to grab the logs and throw them at their pursuers.
"What the hell!?" one of the robbers yelled as he avoided the logs, only to have the person behind him be struck by it.
"Take this, you skank!" a thief aimed his rifle.
"Lian!" Sarah gasped when she saw he was aiming straight at her.
Lian closed her eyes when she heard the gunshot and expected to be hit, only to never be struck.
"Terrible aim." She chuckled, thinking that had been the case, only to notice that Power Khan was holding something in its fingers.
A bullet.
A bullet that was right in front of her chest.
"No way." Sarah's eyes widened, "Agh!" she was scraped by a crossbow bolt.
"That is incredible." Lian inspected the bullet, then cast it aside.
"Ah great." She growled when she saw they were once again surrounded.
"Take this!" one of the thieves threw a tomahawk.
Lian made Power Khan punch it away, then made it block a crossbow bolt that was going to hit Sarah.
"Mind helping out here?" she looked at Sarah.
"Alright." Sarah nodded and called out Furious Flame, then made it pick up a nearby stone and throw it at one of the thieves, scoring a direct hit.
The thieves yelled in anger, reloaded and aimed their weapons at them.
"I don't think my stand can block this much firepower…" Lian gulped.
There was a yell in the woods.
"NO ONE ESCAPES THE LAW!"
The thieves turned around to see a black man of tall stature slide down a hill and aim his magnums at them.
"It's the damn Tribunal!" one of the robbers cried out and fired his rifle.
The black man ducked and weaved, then blasted two robbers with his magnums before taking cover.
Sarah and Lian saw as the tree the man was hiding behind was being peppered with so many bullets and bolts that it was near falling over.
From behind the tree, the man took a deep breath, then his body started to glow blue.
The thieves took a moment to reload, then aimed at the tree again.
Lian noticed something rustling in the trees, then saw a being surrounded by a blue aura come out of the foliage.
"Sarah…"
"I see it too…" Sarah mumbled, then widened her eyes when she saw another similar being come out not to far from the first one.
"What?"
"Is that another Stand?!" Lian asked, "But they look the same-" she gasped when another appeared just a few meters away from them.
The being appeared to be of a strong masculine build with gray skin covered by parts that were blue and a large metallic chestplate with a golden set of scales design on it. Its left arm was covered by a gauntlet, but its right arm was a metal cannon-looking object with glowing blue lines running across it.
"That is a stand! But why these many!?" Sarah asked as she called out Furious Flame.
The stand nearest to them looked at them.
"Oh no you don't!" Lian yelled and called out Power Khan, who then punched the stand into a tree.
"Give it up, criminals!" the man hiding behind the tree popped out.
The thieves smirked and put their fingers on the triggers, ready to pepper him.
However, the stands appeared from behind them and blasted them from behind.
"The Law will prevail!" the man yelled and blasted the remaining robbers with his magnums, "Hrrr…" he murmured when he saw the area was clear, or so he thought.
There was Lian, fighting one of his stands with her own.
"Stop right there!" The man yelled, catching the two women's attention.
"Watch out!" Lian said and used Power Khan to throw a log at them.
"Hrr!" the man avoided this and recalled his stand back, "That is endangering an officer!" he lifted his magnums.
"Cease this now or face judgement! Wh-What…" he noticed that Sarah was looking at one of his stands.
Lian charged him while he was distracted and called out Power Khan.
"You too!?" The man growled and dove, then used one of his stands to blast them.
"AGH!" Lian yelped when Power Khan was grazed by the blast from the stand and fell to the ground.
"How can you see my officers?" the man yelled, "No one has ever seen them before!"
Lian stood up and used Power Khan to punch one of the stands, forcing the man to recall it.
"These must be the Stands!" she yelled and aimed for the next one.
The man made the other two stands shoot at Power Khan, but it avoided the blasts and beat up the third stand. The man growled as he removed that one as well.
"I'm getting closer to you!" Lian said as Power Khan targeted the last two stands.
"This is impossible!" the man recalled both.
"Lian! Stop!" Sarah butted in and made Furious Flame catch Power Khan's arm in a fiery bind, "He's not an enemy!"
"How do you know!?" Lian asked as she struggled to get out.
"He's a member of the Outer Tribunal!" Sarah said as she looked at the man's outfit, "He's an enforcer of the law! He was here to help us."
Lian struggled, but then inspected the man's outfit as well.
"Hmmm… You are correct." She stopped and recalled Power Khan.
The man kept his magnums aimed at the two.
"How did you two see my officers?" he asked.
"You mean your stands?" Sarah asked, "Because we have the same thing." She said and called out Furious Flame.
The man looked at it.
"What are you talking about?" he called out his stand, "This… This is a stand?" he looked at it.
"Yes." Sarah answered him, "They are a projection of you. They appear to those who have great willpower and spirit to aid them." She added.
The man lowered his magnums and came to his senses.
"Are you ladies alright? You were the ones being chased, no?"
"Yes." Lian responded, "But I wish to know more about your stand." She shrugged him off.
The man stood straight.
"This… what you call a stand, I have named THE LAW." He informed, "It allows me a personal police force no one has been able to see… until you two came."
"The Law?" Sarah asked, "How about all the others?"
"No… they are all THE LAW." The man shook his head.
"But a person can only have one Stand." Sarah mumbled, "It can't be possible you possess so many."
"They are all the same Stand, except it can multiply." The man responded, "Ah, apologies. Ladies, my name is Lex, I am an Enforcer from the Outer Tribunal." He placed his hand on his chest.
"I am Sarah, and this is Princess Lian of House Aico." Sarah told him.
Lex looked at the princess with some shock.
"You are… the princess of Aico?" he asked with a curious tone.
"Yes. You may wonder why I am far from home… and sometimes I do to." Lian said and stretched her arm.
"We are looking to end a threat so villainous it plans to take over the world for the Abyss." Sarah added, "She is a stand user as well. I've been searching the realm for other Stand users like myself to take her down."
Lex stopped and pondered.
"Hmmm. Where are the whereabouts of this criminal?" he asked in a serious tone.
"The Town of Seris or somewhere." Lian shook her head.
Lex's ears perked.
"Seris?" he asked, "That place is where the criminal beast that massacred a whole town is. Some of my compatriots have gone down to capture it, none have returned."
"I am sorry." Sarah mumbled, "Without a stand, few creatures stand a chance against her."
"And you say I have a stand?" Lex asked.
"Yes." Sarah responded.
"Perhaps I can join you two then. I will bring judgement on that creature and exact The Law's punishment on her!" the man yelled.
"It is best to finish evil at any given opportunity!"
Sarah smiled, "I'm so glad you decided to help!"
"I will do anything in the Outer Tribunal's power to bring that creature to Justice!" Lex spoke loudly.
"Perhaps you can stop yelling." Lian grumbled and covered one of her ears, "That'll probably help us out."
"Well Excuse meeee, princess." Lex responded as the three walked off.
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The princess' damaged carriage and Lex on his horse arrived at the local constabulary during the early morning, attracting the attention of the locals.
Lex dismounted and walked towards the crowds starting to farm.
"Back up! Back up!" he waved his hands away from him and turned back to walk towards the carriage.
Lian and Sarah stepped out of the carriage and met up with Lex, who walked past them and inspected the carriage.
"Is it any good?" Sarah asked as Lex did a round trip.
"Of course it is, I had the finest artisans in the land make it." Lian scoffed, then saw Lex stop on one of the front wheels.
Lex pounded on it lightly and the whole carriage fell towards him.
"Silence." Lian growled as Lex cut the ropes to free the horses.
"This carriage will not take us to Seris." Lex informed and looked at them, "Unfortunately, another Enforcer is transporting a prisoner to Alkaea and thus we have no carriage here. So if you wish to ride horses, it would be our only option now."
"How about the train?" Lian pointed to the train station in the town.
"Do you think that would be wise for the mission we will be undertaking?" Lex crossed his arms.
"It is not known to others, Lex." Sarah informed, "And I doubt my sister can hear us from here. The Abyss is not omnipresent." She said, "We can take the train. It would be faster, and faster is better here."
"Case closed, officer." Lian smirked and walked towards the train station.
Sarah sighed and waited for Lex to put up his horse and come out of the constabulary.
"H-Hey!" she called out to Lian, who was already in the town square.
A few moments later, Lex came out and walked up to Sarah.
"Quite stubborn for a princess." He grumbled as he ran to catch up to her.
The three caught up and walked into the train station.
"Special Mission." Lex walked up to the ticket master and showed him his badge, "I am escorting these two for witnessing in a case. We're going south."
The ticket master nodded and gave him three tickets.
Lex grabbed the tickets and handed them out to his allies.
"We leave in 20 minutes. I guess we have luck on our side." He commented as he looked at the time.
"Before we go, I would like us to get to know our stands." Sarah said and made Furious Flame appear, "This is Furious Flame, with the power of the Pyre."
Lian rolled her eyes and made Power Khan appear.
"This is Power Khan, with the power to beat dissidents dearly."
Sarah glared at the princess.
"This is The Law." Lex finished off by showing off his stand, "With the power to blast energy and multiply into a police force."
Nearby, a figure behind a newspaper watched carefully.
This is the second Paladins fic I'm working on.
I hope you enjoy it.
Characters belong to Hi-Rez/Evil Mojo